Christian Prison Programs in Constitutional Quicksand

Five years after the 9/11 attacks, America's intelligence community remains a target of public scrutiny.

Reforms by the Bush administration leave many asking whether the U.S. spy machine can keep America safe.

Since failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks and being wrong on weapons in Iraq, America's intelligence community is fighting to regain its reputation.

With billions spent and recommendations to reform, President Bush says progress is being made ".to improve the quality and quantity of intelligence we collect and to be able to analyze that intelligence more thoroughly."

In 2004, Congress passed legislation creating a director of national intelligence. John Negroponte was chosen to get intelligence agencies working together and insure accurate information made it to the White House. Analysts say the jury's still out on whether it will become yet another layer of bureaucracy.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft credits the Patriot Act in tearing down the wall of secrecy between agencies.

Ashcroft said, "So that we can get the right kind of communication between our law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and as a matter of fact, the law enforcement and intelligence of single agencies, like the FBI. We actually had the wall between certain components of the FBI and it hurt the United States."

FBI Director Robert Mueller declined our request for an interview.

But last May he told Congress the FBI is transforming its investigative and law enforcement role into an intelligence-led agency.

"We have doubled the number of intelligence analysts in every field, and in every field office established a field intelligence group, or FIGS, as we call them," Mueller said. "Agents and analysts working together with one shared mission to leverage intelligence to protect our nation."

Insiders say communication is still clogged by outdated databases and a shortage of language experts.

But Assistant Director John Miller points to the agency's recent accomplishments.

The bureau prevented five terrorist plots in the last year alone and helped stop international plots in canada and britain.

Miller said, "At any moment, we are involved in joint operations with American and foreign intelligence agencies that go on for months or even years. In those cases no one takes a bow or holds a press conference, but the work gets done quietly and effectively."

But possibly the biggest remaining question mark is the the CIA, which has seen a revolving door in leadership.

9/11 scarred George Tenet. Porter Goss always carried the label of outsider.

Now it's up General Michael Hayden, the first military leader, to head the civilian agency.

Some say one of the biggest obstacles for an entrenched bureaucracy is "risk averse."

Many complain the CIA has relied more on technology and other nations than growing its own spies.

It was Goss's aggressive efforts to beef up human intelligence, some suspect, that led to his departure.

After leaving the spy agency, Goss said he did see astonishing improvement in overseas intelligence since September 11. But he warned Washington about building an unwieldy bureaucracy-- one he said said could kill American spies' ability to act quickly to stop terror.